Helen sits down at her desk, with reluctance.
She has to write.
But she doesn’t want to.
She switches her computer on, opens a blank document, and sets a timer for 25 minutes. She sips her green tea.
The time is ticking away, and Helen keeps staring at her blank sheet. Why is writing so hard? And so painful?
After 9 minutes, Helen puts her cup of tea down. She’s wasting her time. She should write. She slowly moves her fingers to her keyboard, and writes a few rubbish sentences. It’s a start, she thinks.
Does writing feel like a chore to you, too?
Writing used to be painful for me. I hated it at times. But somehow I forced myself to write. I’m not even sure why.
Over time, I’ve rethought my attitude to writing, and I’ve learned to treasure the moments I write. I feel lucky to write, to express my thoughts, to share my ideas. I’ve become more experienced and have learned to trust my writing process—I’ll come up with a decent article even if it doesn’t feel that way now.
But I’ve also learned to stop thinking of writing as a chore.
Whenever I think “I have to write” or “I should write,” I correct myself: “I want to write” or “I choose to write, and I’ll start writing before 9.30am.” It seems a small change but it helps me reframe writing and stop seeing it as a painful chore. It also helps me appreciate the small pleasures of writing.
Treasure small pleasures
Think about this … at what moments of the day, do you feel life is good?
I feel most content at small moments. When waking up from the soft noise of a Spring shower, turning around in bed and realizing—I don’t have to get up yet. Or when enjoying a short bike ride, feeling the wind kissing my face. Cheese and wine, and a good conversation with my husband, or having a laugh together.
The small pleasures make life worth living.
Small pleasures turn out not to be small at all: they are points of access to the great themes of our lives. It can at first sound slightly strange to say that we don’t automatically and naturally know how to enjoy ourselves. But the pursuit of pleasure is a skill which we need to learn: it’s something that we can get better at. And small pleasures are the things to start with.
From: Small Pleasures by The School of Life
Since getting injured in a car crash, I’m living at a slower pace. But despite chronic pain and fatigue, I feel more content with life and happier than before. Living at a slower pace helps me appreciate small moments. Like intensely feeling the sun warm my face. Watching the birds play in our garden. Slowly articulating my thoughts for a blog post, without deadline pressure.
Instead of chasing big goals all the time, I’m learning to live more in the moment.
Writing used to be wrapped up in big missions. Connect with my audience. Get more traffic. Get known. Become an authority. Run a real business. Publish books.
But by chasing deadlines and big goals, I forgot to treasure the joy of writing.
Writing is a challenging endeavor
We often wonder whether our writing is good enough. We worry whether our ideas suck. We doubt whether we’re on the right track.
Stress and anxiety can take the joy of writing away.
But what if we could let go of stress and fears? What if we could enjoy our writing?
In her book “Picture This,” Lynda Barry discusses the zen of drawing:
What if we could stop worrying about our writing and simply enjoy the process of creating?
What if we could let go of stress and enjoy the small pleasure of writing?
The beauty of hard work
I remember the day I climbed the Pyrenees on my bicycle, in 2013.
It was a cold and foggy day, and it was drizzling.
The climb was relentless. Not steep, but a steady incline that never seemed to stop. The first 10km or so, we made good progress, but then we started to struggle.
In total, the climb is 27km, but I tried not to think about how far the top was. I kept moving my legs. I observed the pain, and round and round my legs kept moving.
Why is there pleasure in hard work?
In “On Writing,” Stephen King describes writing as “shoveling shit from a sitting position.” And that’s how writing sometimes feels.
But when we keep writing, revising, and thinking, a moment of inspiration might strike unexpectedly. It’s that moment we write for. A sudden insight. A new idea. A nugget of wisdom discovered. The strands of thinking finally falling into place.
Staring out of the window
Writing doesn’t just happen when sitting at our desks, wrestling with a first draft.
Writing is thinking.
And some of the best thinking (and writing) happens when we allow our minds to wander. We stare out of the window. We give ourselves a break. We daydream.
But, in truth, our minds keep working. It’s in those moments of chaos, when we find new connections and fresh ideas. We dream up a metaphor. We find a better way to express our thoughts. We discover at last what we really think and want to write.
In our busy lives, productivity is revered, and it’s easy to forget that great insights often occur when we let our minds wander. Why do you think so many writers and philosophers walk?
Sometimes, we have to leave our busyness behind, and let our minds (and feet) wander.
Finding your flow
Remember my bike ride up the Pyrenees?
Reaching the top was a disappointment. It was so foggy, we had no view. Our photos are blurry. There wasn’t even a café or restaurant to nourish our tired bodies.
But then came the magic of cycling downhill.
The effortless speed was exhilarating. Miraculously, the sky cleared, the sun warmed our faces, we admired the view, and we forgot our tired legs.
Writing can feel like trudging uphill for an endless time. We worry what the hell we’re doing. We’re afraid our writing will never match the vision we have in mind. Can we turn this shitty draft into an enchanting content?
And then at once, we find our flow. The words pour out of us. We forget our doubts and worries. We don’t even notice our phone ringing. Our tea goes cold. We’re writing. We’re writing!
Feeling inspired
Some people see inspiration as a divine intervention.
They wait for the moment to strike.
My Calvinistic upbringing suggests that if we work hard, our reward will come.
I guess the truth is somewhere in the middle. When we try too hard and put too much pressure on ourselves, our muse escapes. But when we wait for inspiration, we might wait forever.
Our muse appreciates it when we do the work. She’ll turn up to reward us with a spark of inspiration.
So, keep doing the work, and trust she’ll turn up. Make writing a habit, put in your hours diligently, and magic happens.
The hidden treasures in your writing
When reading our own content, it’s easy to focus on the things we don’t like.
The flow doesn’t quite work. The rhythm feels choppy. Our ideas aren’t as clear as we like. We feel we’re too boring. And, sometimes, we struggle to understand what’s wrong. We despair and curse our lack of talent.
To improve our skills, we need to understand our weaknesses. That’s true. But to enjoy our writing, we need to focus on our strengths, too.
You may feel uneasy about storytelling, but you expertly weave data into your writing. Your headline may be so-so, but your opening rocks. You may struggle with the focus of your article, but your readers value your tips.
Treasure the jewels in your writing.
Embrace your inner child
Remember, how as a kid you drew wonky pictures without worrying about it? And whatever you made, you were proud of it?
As small children, we understand how to play and experiment so we can learn. We stumble, and get up again. But when we grow up, we learn to get afraid. We worry what others might think of our writing. We constantly compare our own achievements with others.
You’ll find pleasure in writing when you forget about the outside world.
So, write to formulate your own thoughts. Write to discover meaning. Write to play with words.
Write to find your rhythm.
And to be yourself.
Treasure the moment of writing.
Further reading on getting out of a writing funk:
3 writing strategies to put your thoughts into words
3 creative habits that’ll make you more inspired and prolific
17 blogging prompts to get out of a rut
I am “writing” a book of origami models. I have already done the creative work so it is case of putting in the grunt work: taking and editing photographs of the models, drawing and editing diagrams, writing explanations for the diagrams (which should not even be needed if the diagrams are good), and all the horrors that do with self-publishing and marketing (my personal nemesis).
I have to overcome not only a progressive inflammatory disease (and the problems of pain management) but the persistent mind talk that tells me that the task is too big and too long and not worth the effort because why would people want to buy the book anyway, so I’ll end up in massive debt with expensive “presents” for my small circle of friends. All I can think of is to imagine what this kind of thinking would do to other authors, including those who will turn out to be successful. It kind of works …..
I’m so sorry to hear about your inflammatory disease and chronic pain. I know that’s hard to deal with.
I have chronic pain and inflammation in my body, too. What helped me come to terms with negative self-talk is to realize that the self-talk was just guzzling up too much energy leaving me even more fatigued. This helped me to learn to focus on the task in front of me and to find joy in doing the work. Even grunt work can be a joy. I try not to think about results because to some extent results are out of our control. Of course we can promote our courses, books, and blog posts, so in that sense we do have some control about how our creative works spreads. But we can’t control what people’s reaction to it.
Sometimes, it’s enough to just create something for our own pleasure. I know this can be tricky when we need to make a living out of our creative work, and that can make the pressure to succeed higher and the mind talk even more persistent. But even then, the same applies: to focus on doing the work and finding joy in doing the work one step at a time. It takes time to adopt this attitude but it can certainly be done and it’s freeing over time, leaving more energy to do the things we love.
And it’s also a lovely idea to have a wonderful self-made present for friends—to spread the joy of origami. Origami is such a wonderful mindful practice. I’m sending best wishes for you and your project.
I too was particularly struck by that quote: I took a screenshot before moving on with the reading and then I saw this first comment.
I’ll be teaching a Ray Bradbury short story in a few weeks: I like to believe this is part of the reason(s) I was struck by the quote.
Because I write too.
It’s such a good quote, isn’t it? I love it, too.
Thank you for stopping by, Sheilla 🙂
Dearest Henneke: I love – just love your posting ray bradbury’s comment. “If you’re writing without zest, without gusto, without love and without fun…you are only half a writer.”
Perhaps, I do have some writing talent after all.
Thank you so, so much for taking the time to inspirationally and intuitively write that comment. I truly believe that was just for me…ok and others too, lol.
Kindest regards,
Becky
P.S. Amazingness. I’m going to take that saying and make a poster using colourful markers. Than post it in my office and put it where it will be seen daily. I really needed that. Your awesome Henneke, just awesome.
I love that quote from Ray Bradbury, too, and I also had a lot of fun handlettering that quote. 🙂
Happy writing, dear Becky.
Such a great reminder to shut out the outside world.
I have a little trick: Gingerbread Whisky put in my cup of tea before sun rises on these very cold Canadian Winter mornings. (-30 C).
Every post that you write is like a magic breath of fresh air
and a REAL Unicorn appearing. (haha).
Thank you for what you do. You are a prolific writer.
If it was that cold here in the mornings, I’m not sure whether the whisky would be strong enough to get me out of bed!
One day, I have to visit Canada (but preferably not in the middle of winter!) and try the Gingerbread Whisky. It sounds delicious with many of my favorite flavors.
Happy writing, Ray!
Treasure the moment of writing. I could not agree more, Henneke.
I just love it when Henrietta shows up. She cracks me up, lol!
Kindest regards,
Becky
I’m glad to hear Henrietta is making you laugh, Becky. Happy writing!
Walking is a terrific tip. So rare is it for us to be away from our phones, TVs, and computers where our mind is free to wander. I try to remind myself to do this as often as I can. Conversations with myself are often my best brainstorming tools.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, so true. I try to walk every day. And I do my best to leave my phone in my pocket and enjoy my surroundings (partly woods, partly town center). I even walk when it rains.
Thank you for stopping by, Evan.
Hi Henneke,
This is it! [Applause]
It was very powerful reading. Sometimes I also feel reluctant but I don’t have choice except writing and publishing blog.
Good post.
Thanks for inspiring me.
Avinash
I’ve found that when I focus on doing the work, I can overcome my initial reluctance to writing.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Avinash.
Great article.
I really believe writing without enthusiasm can’t produce the expected result. Although I think it must be the same in every other career too! 🙂
Yes, that’s true! And life is much better when you feel enthusiastic about your work 🙂
Great article, again. I thought I would leave you a thank you note. Your blog is so human, so relatable, and yet full of efficient marketing tricks. I started following you only a few weeks ago. J’ai tout dévoré. I mostly write in French, my first language, and was surprised to see that most of your advice, even when it concerns words or grammar, can apply to any language. Your snackable course is simply delightful. I was almost sad when the emails started slowing down. 😉
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Alexe. Your comment (especially: “Your blog is so human, so relatable, and yet full of efficient marketing tricks.”) put a smile on my face 🙂
My French is unfortunately not so good, but I do believe, too, that most of these tips apply to other language.
Happy writing, and thank you for stopping by!
Yess! And they told me that me zoning out back in College was bad! Just joking, but I really click with the “Stare out the window” section you provided. Beautifully written.
Thank you, Caitlyn. I recently read that “daydreaming is a strong indicator of an active and well-equipped brain.” (from: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-benefits-of-daydreaming-170189213/)
Happy daydreaming! 🙂
It’s a really nice take on the whole “Reframe your mindset” approach, being able to change from “I need to write again…” to “I want to write again!”.
Loved what you said about being happy to take things slow, it’s so nice right? Just taking things at a gentle pace, not having the self-imposed pressures of “I have to do this by x time, I have to become this before x date” etc. etc. and just being able to cherish all the little things in life, like being able to write and express yourself to the hundreds and thousands of other individuals all over the world from the comfort of your living room or at work with just a computer/mobile phone, wi-fi and the right mindset (that is so amazing whenever I think about it!).
Just living your own life at your own pace and being able to appreciate each day that passes by.. I think a lot of us (me included like.. err 70% of the time…. :c ) don’t focus on that enough! But as usual, your awesome motivating writing seems to have had an effect on me haha — in this case, to possess that mentality more often!
Yes, it makes me really happy to take things slow. And the crazy thing is that when I take it slow, I actually get more done!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, George. Happy writing, and enjoy your day 🙂
Hi Henneke,
Love the drawings – you’re so gifted!
And I especially liked this paragraph: “I guess the truth is somewhere in the middle. When we try too hard and put too much pressure on ourselves, our muse escapes. But when we wait for inspiration, we might wait forever.”
It’s true that sometimes we just have to grind out the words. Slowly but surely our writing will take shape. It might brew over a few hours or days, but it’ll turn out strong in the end.
Enjoy your summer schedule!
– David
I agree with you, David. Sometimes we have to grind out the words. It may feel we’ll never get there, but eventually we will!
Thank you for your compliment on my drawings. I appreciate it! 🙂
Another great, and inspiring, post.
Thank you, Terry!
Hi Henneke. Being the practical people we are. (Business takes us there like it or not.) Working always on the machinery of the thing. Always tinkering under the hood. Tuning. Tuning. Then tuning some more. It’s fun to discover “there is a river that runs through it.” That after all the tussle and wouldn’t ya know it, an insight, an idea, a new direction shows up like a little kid with her hands in her pockets . Loved your article. You always set me free. Enjoy your break. ( P.S. How high is the stack of books you plan to read on “break.”)
I’m a super-tinkerer; it’s what I love doing most, and it’s true that I sometimes don’t realize that the river has changed direction. So, it feels good to take a little step back for a while and work on some other projects and find time to “play” again.
I’ve so often made a ridiculously long list of books I wanted to read, I decided not to do that this time, and just go with the flow. Read what I want to read, and then pick up the next book.
Thank you for stopping by, Curtis! 🙂
Hi Henneke,
I’m back in town after a week with mom. Going through the mails. Thank you for your article. It’s outstanding, Henneke, thoughtful and cheerful, inspiring as well. I hope you will greatly enjoy your new schedule. Maybe keep it for the winter too? We will be here waiting for them. ?
Hi Irina
I hope you had a good week with your mom.
I’m already feeling good about my new schedule, as it’s creating some more mental space to think, draw, and do some “random” reading. And yes, it may quietly turn into my winter schedule, too. Let’s see after summer 😉
Thank you for your compliment—I’m glad you liked this article. 🙂
Hi Henneke,
As usual, the post is awesome and motivates. Seems like you are in this novel mission to help us writers get motivated to write and in the process not forget to enjoy our small pleasures. 😀
Thanks for this post, seems life had so many small pleasures we forget to see when writing as a profession.
Thanks you and have a great rest of the week.
-Swadhin
Yes, it feels like my mission is expanding. I think that’s because I’ve noticed that learning good writing skills isn’t enough to write well; we also need to get into the right mindset and establish the right habits to write well, get more writing done, and enjoy it.
Happy writing, Swadhin, and thank you for stopping by 🙂
Where I live I am lucky to hear birds when I wake up. A great pleasure.
And today I was lucky enough to wake up and after breakfast I read your post. Another great pleasure.
What a lovely comment! Thank you, Jose.
And yes, birdsong is a great pleasure, too.
Hi Henneke
Thank you for your blog. It’s so uplifting.
I hope you’ll get rid of that posttraumatic pain soon.
Keep well
Thank you for your comment and well wishes, Jaime. I appreciate them 🙂
Thank you for this! I’m participating in the 100-day project – 100 days of creating and I chose writing. I’m writing each day and wow, this post truly resonated with me. I found that bliss comes from the little things. All of my 100-day posts are about a small pleasure (or moment) I experienced that day. At first, I was actively looking for the moment. But now, I just allow life to wash over me and write what feels good. I’m 50 days in and not all posts were good, but I like the consistency and the structure of the experience. Also, gosh, so sorry to hear you were in a car accident! Sending good, healing energy your way! Thank you for all you do – your posts are always so inspiring!
Writing about the small pleasures in life for 100 days sounds like a wonderful project. And it sounds like you’re getting into a good flow!
Thank you for stopping by, Lynne, and for your well wishes. I appreciate it.
Happy writing!
I’m glad you confirmed my experience that walking around makes it easy to think. That’s what I always find myself subconsciously doing as I’m discovering facts and formulating an interesting theory. I find myself striding back and fourth across my room, whispering wise explanations to myself 🙂 you are my lovely blog idol!
I really think walking every day improves writing productivity. I like these quotes from the book “A Philosophy of Walking:”
“Walking is the best way to go more slowly than any other method that has ever been found.”
And:
“there is the suspensive freedom that comes by walking, even a simple short stroll: throwing off the burden of cares, forgetting business for a time. You choose to leave the office behind, go out, stroll around, think about other things.”
Happy walking & writing, Marcus. Thank you for your lovely comment.
Thanks Henneke, for sharing your Lynda Barry quote again here. I saw it on Instagram and loved it, and when I read it today it felt like visiting an old friend 🙂
I remember someone asking me a few years ago, “What are you looking forward to this week?”. My answer was “Nothing.”
That got me thinking, and I realised it’s looking forward to the little pleasures that matters because those are the things that happen in our daily round.
Not the big holidays (although those are lovely)
Not the massive achievements (exciting as they are)
But the process of living life content to enjoy the small jewels that sparkle in each day.
Thanks for the reminder!
I so love that quote from Lynda Barry. While writing this post, I thought of it and it seemed a good opportunity to include it.
I love how you put this:
“Not the big holidays (although those are lovely)
Not the massive achievements (exciting as they are)
But the process of living life content to enjoy the small jewels that sparkle in each day.”
It’s so true!
WOW, this was very uplifting! Just what I needed to read. Thank you!
I’m so happy to read your comment. Thank you, Natalie 🙂
Henneke, thank you so much! Your posts are really like a ray of light in a long dark tunnel.
Thank you so much. Keep writing, keep inspiring.
What a beautiful compliment. Thank you, Misha.
Thanks for the reminder to treasure the moments, and put them into words.
I find that freewriting helps me overcome any writer’s block. As you said, the gems express themselves when you least expect them to appear.
Yes, freewriting can also help me get unstuck. That’s so true!
Thank you for stopping by again, Susan. I appreciate it.
Simple yet powerful. Bless you, H.
Thank you, Bernice. Happy writing!
Read it twice for a double doze of inspiration. I forgot that writing on my blog was a ‘choice’ and not a ‘chore’. Thanks for the beautiful reminder. Already ‘wanting’ to start writing my next one.
Yay! It makes me happy to read you’re already wanting to write your next blog post 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment, Hena!
I imagine we all have our methods and reminders that keep us going. For me, it’s three words from Stephen Kings’s On Writing: Writing is rewriting.
It’s true that writing is thinking, but I find that thinking too much can be paralyzing. When that happens I give myself an unrealistic deadline and that usually gets me out of the funk because now I have no choice but to trust the muse.
Yes, that’s another important thought. Write a crappy draft first and trust that you can fix it 🙂
I also agree with you that too much thinking can be paralyzing. It’s a fine balance. In my case, not enough thinking can get me stuck, too, or I write so badly that I need to invest a lot of time in revising.
Writing is so interesting. We all have to employ different tactics at different times to get unstuck and keep writing.
Thank you for stopping by to add your thoughts, Jeff. I appreciate it.
Thanks again Henneke, for the feeling of recognition and inspiration. Love the Lynda Barry quote. I like the way how she moves between writing and drawing. I find moving between those two activities also helps me to keep both of them fun. If I am stuck with words I draw and the other way around. And if stuck on both, I go and get some fresh air.
I only discovered Lynda Barry in December and treated myself to three of her books. I also love how she moves between writing and drawing. I feel really inspired every time I leaf through her books.
Thank you for stopping by, Kim!
What a great way to start my day! I haven’t quite cured myself of checking email first thing. Your post made it worthwhile today. Reading a Henneke post to start everyday just might be a great habit to develop.
What a lovely comment. Thank you, Bonnie.
Happy writing!
Your article reminds me of KellyMcGonigals Upside of Stress. She says that the way we frame our challenges determines the journey and the outcome.
Strangely I hadn’t applied that thought to writing until I just read your article. It’s more of a grit it and bear it exercise for me when it comes to writing.
Thanks for opening my eyes. Again.
That book has been on my to-read list for quite a while. It sounds like you’d recommend it?
Happy writing, Kerstin! I appreciate your comment.
It’s definitely a good book. If you’re strapped for time, she did a Ted talk on the same subject just before writing the book.
Have a great day.
Thank you for the tip!
I just checked my stats this morning and nobody’s liking my last post much, at all.
So thanks for this pep talk and quotes from those who’ve gone before.
It’s tough, knowing what to write and not knowing how to make it attractive. Oh, I guess I know how to, because I’ve done it before, but I surely am not hitting my stride, lately. And at one time, I was a popular writer in my niche. Heh heh. I suppose the times are changing, too, and that makes a difference. I should remember that. But I think the writing, for the simple joy of it, needs to be my goal for awhile, since that maybe all I’ll be receiving for awhile?
As for the spiritual side of this thing, I’ve often found comfort in the quote from Charles Kingsley: “Have thy tools ready; God will find thee work.”
Back to polishing my tools! Have a lovely day!
It’s tough to keep up a regular schedule and to engage an audience week in week out, year in year out. So, I think it’s quite normal to go through dips when you don’t quite connect with readers or when you might struggle with your writing. It also seems people comment less—I’ve heard several blogs complaining about this; and it also might be social shares are going down (but I’ve not seen figures about this).
Of course, there’s often a business side to blogging and promoting our services. But it’s important to find a balance that works for us as well as our readers—we also want to be happy with our writing and the ideas we share.
Perhaps try and experiment a little? Go where you never dared to go before?
Hey Henneke,
Great post. First off, I love the drawing of the quotes. You should do that from now on. It really stands out and solidifies that it’s your thing. Good job for that.
I use to hate writing because it was a struggle like you said. The only way I got over it was by research and creating an outline. When I’d done those things, the writing process became much easier for me.
Thanks for the great post. Enjoy your early summer schedule.
– Andrew
P.S. it’s going to be tough every other week not getting to read your posts. But it’ll build anticipation for the next one.
Hi Andrew,
I was feeling quite apprehensive about publishing every other week. It feels a little scary to interrupt a pattern, but it feels good to build some more time into my schedule. That makes it more likely that I add more drawings and hand-lettered quotes 🙂
Thank you for your compliment on the quotes. I appreciate it!
Thanks! I needed that! <3
Happy writing, Catalina!
Your blog posts are very inspiring.
Thank you, Keyuri. Happy writing!
There are a lot of parallels between the mindset to write and the mindset of sport. If you try too hard you choke. If you are too laissez-faire, you don’t put in the work. If you are too outcome-oriented, you are at the mercy of the emotional roller coaster—over something you have very little control over. Falling in love with the process is the way to be successful over the long term.
I’m glad you are doing a summer schedule and the drawings were fabulous!
I’m also glad I’ve decided to go for my summer schedule. I’ve been umming and ahhing about it for a long time, but sometimes it’s good to get out of a pattern and try something different. Now, I’ve decided and announced it, it feels quite good 🙂
As always, I appreciate your support and comments, Kathy.
Hello Henneke,
Thanks for this post, it was very easy to read and I kept nodding throughout the paragraphs. I completely agree with “simply enjoy the process of creating”. That’s my secret formula too, especially now that I am writing more than ever, thanks for reminding me again.
Happy holidays by the way 🙂
I’m glad you’ve found your secret formula, too, Virginia!
I’m not really going on holidays (not yet), but I want to slow down a little and find some time for other projects.
I’m always happy to see your name pop up here. Thank you for all your support through the years.
Thanks for reminding me about small pleasures. Your blog is one of them. Bless you!
What a lovely compliment. Thank you, Nancy. 🙂